The Engineering Foundation
I have spent 8+ years shipping software at scale -- a world where uptime is non-negotiable and "it works on my machine" is not a deployment strategy. That experience shaped how I approach AI today. I don't see LLMs as magic boxes; I see them as powerful but stochastic components that need strict guardrails. This is what I call "Hardened AI" -- treating every AI implementation as a systems engineering challenge, not a science experiment.
Shipping at Scale
I brought that discipline to Eventbrite as a Senior Engineer, learning that code is only as good as its uptime. When you ship at that scale, you learn that unboring, reliable systems are the most exciting thing you can build. From there, I led infrastructure teams at FlowWest and ESLWorks, where I learned that the best systems are the ones your team isn't afraid to deploy on a Friday.
The AI Reality
Today, I'm building Arepa.AI, an AI-native platform for Spanish-speaking SMBs. It's not a demo or a wrapper; it's a system that drives real business value. I don't just advise on AI strategy, I ship production code every day. I also share my playbooks and lessons learned at Celestino.ai -- an interactive documentary where you can ask my AI about how I build these systems.
My Philosophy
"Unit Economics is the only Feature."
I believe AI is fundamentally a supply chain problem. The most impressive model is useless if it bankrupts you to run it. Systems Thinking means asking: does this system pay for itself, and can the team maintain it without me?
- Reliability over Hype: I replace "vibe checks" with automated evaluation harnesses because you can't improve what you don't measure. When I introduced these standards at scale, user trust and impressions increased by 482%.
- Cost as a Constraint: I re-architect retrieval pipelines to cut costs by up to 99%, turning a "burning pile of cash" into a viable, profitable product. I implement vendor off-ramps to keep long-term opex low -- saving roughly $60K/mo in one engagement.
- Sustainable AI: I don't just ship code; I ship runbooks, decision records, and safety valves so your team isn't terrified to deploy on Fridays. Profitability means nothing if the system falls apart the day I leave.
Let's Connect
I write about the intersection of AI engineering, economics, and reliability.
Explore my work to see what I've built, contact me to discuss roles, projects, or collaborations, or talk to my AI to see the system in action.